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Green Belts & Greenways
Green Belts & Greenways
These are already established in many places around the world such, are being planned, or are in need of being created. Conservation organizations, politicians, communities, and farmers can benefit greatly from these areas which can absorb flooding, provide safe outside space for humans, while allowing wilderness safe passage in places that might otherwise become urbanized. Some of these projects are designed specifically with the reduction of reducing heat islands and cleaning air, while other's are intended to boost employment, fend of desertification, and provide safe water for agricultural communities.
Some existing examples include:
Africa
Africa
The Great Green Wall "The 15 kilometer (9.3 mile) wide Great Green Wall project stretches over 7,775 km [from Senegal on the Atlantic to Eritrea on the Red Sea. The aim was to curb the Sahara Desert's spread."
"The Great Green Wall is more than just an environmental project that is intended to restore 100 million hectares of fertile lands in the Sahel, and in the process cut 250 million tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. It aims to create 10 million so-called green jobs.
"It's not just about planting trees in the Sahel region, but also about tackling issues such as climate change, drought, famine, conflict, migration and land degradation," Vivekananda told DW."
There have been many issues including terrorism, so the project which was originally intended to be a solid wall of forest, but has become more of a "rich mosaic of different initiatives that contribute to people's livelihood and food safety."
Kenya
Kenya
"The Green Belt Movement uses a watershed-based approach to restore degraded watersheds of key water catchments so as to improve their functions and improve the livelihood of the local communities.
Being an integrated approach, it sustainably supports and diversifies the sources of income for the communities neighboring the forest by generating income from tree planting activities and promoting alternative and profitable use of the forest.
Since 1977, GBM communities have planted over 51 million trees in Kenya, in watersheds in the highlands of Mt. Kenya, the Aberdares, and the Mau Complex- three of the five major mountain ecosystems in Kenya, as well as on private lands. GBM also plants trees on public lands with institutions such as faith based groups, schools, and has a partnership with the Kenya Army to help access remote areas for planting and tree planting on army lands." - Greenbelt Movement: Tree Planting for Watersheds
Europe
Europe
"The European Green Belt extends over 12,500 kilometres providing a corridor of habitats with exceptional biodiversity. The Green Belt runs along the line of the former Iron Curtain, from the far north of Europe to the Black Sea and the Adriatic in the south."
"The European Green Belt extends across 24 European countries, with numerous stakeholders working to protect this network of biotopes. It is currently divided into four sections:
Fennoscandian Green Belt (the northern part comprising Norway, Finland and Russia)
Baltic Green Belt (the area along the Baltic coast)
Central European Green Belt (from the Baltic coast to the Drava)
Balkan Green Belt (from the Drava to the Aegean and the Black Sea)"
- https://www.euronatur.org/en/what-we-do/european-green-belt
Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Endangered Landscapes & Seascapes Programme-funded Restoration Landscapes Projects: Iron Curtain to Greenbelt "The formerly closed border between Bulgaria and neighbouring Greece and Turkey, from the Rhodope mountains in the West to the Black Sea in the East, is one of Europe’s biodiversity hotspots, hosting 81 IUCN Red List species. It is the stronghold of the national breeding population of eastern imperial eagle and is frequented by vultures, wolves and jackals. The area has been degraded by forest conversion, ploughing, and climate change causing an escalating number and increased intensity of fires. The project will replace coniferous plantations with natural riverine and deciduous forests, and restore water sources and grasslands to create a thriving ecological network that supports species recovery."
Denmark
Denmark
The Green Belt "is a forest-rich patch of land that runs along the northern city limits of Copenhagen. Despite its close proximity to the city (less than 20 minutes by train from one of Copenhagen’s centralmost stations), The Green Belt is a glaring contrast to the pulse of the city."
Germany
Germany
Regional Green Belts in Germany "The idea of regional green belts in the Ruhr region (Germany) dates back to 1912, but only 60 years ago, the term regional green belt appeared in official German spatial planning, and ever since, regional green belts as a theoretical concept and a planning category form an integral part of regional planning in the area." - https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Regional-green-belt-parts-1-23-RVR-2016-and-regional-green-belts-SVR-1966-Sources_fig2_322442507
German Greenbelt Policies Successfully Protect Valuable Areas from Urbanization (PDF)
Spain
Spain
Madrid's Green Belt
"The project aims to connect the large regional parks in the surrounding area (...) The aim is to integrate them in a network of metropolitan green infrastructure that will provide a continuous green space for homes and neighbourhoods. The ideal situation would be for every Madrid resident to be able to leave their house on foot or by bike and easily reach a green or wooded area," explained Vidal from the City Council. In reality, the aim of the project is not so much to solve the problem of a lack of free spaces, but rather to help remedy, "the lack of connectivity and continuity between them (...) The City Council is working together with the other administrations responsible for metropolitan parks to coordinate the continuity and accessibility of all the spaces, following the criteria of sustainability, soft mobility and benefiting the population". - https://www.metropolis.org/blog/madrids-metropolitan-forest-forest-belt-reconnect-citys-population-nature
Un video de 1:20 minutos, solo en español. Es sobre de la bosque por la cuidada de Madrid, e porque es muy importante para las ciudadanos y la ambiencia. (ask someone to double check the quality of this spanish or if the video is actually in catalan, need to re-listen)
Mas aqui!:
Mapas y mas sobre de la park y el concurso bosque metropolitano: https://estrategiaurbana.madrid.es/concurso-bosque-metropolitano/
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The UK Greenbelts which skirt around communities including major cities. "Green belts increased from 721,500 hectares in 1979 to 1,649,640 hectares in 1997 and they currently cover approximately 13% of England, however the areas have been reduced in recent years."- https://www.groundsure.com/resources/green-belt/
North America
North America
Canada
Canada
Ontario’s Greenbelt "Learn more about Ontario’s Greenbelt, the provincial land use plans that protect it and the role of the Greenbelt Council."
The Ontario Greenbelt
1:59 animated video about the many benefits Ontario's Greenbelt.
USA
USA
The East Coast Greenway "connects 15 states and 450 cities and towns for 3,000 miles from Maine to Florida. We are fostering a safe walking and biking route through the country’s most populated corridor."
California
Georgia
Carrollton GreenBelt (Georgia, USA) Rewilding the American West study includes maps of areas that would have a major impact if protected and rewilded.
Texas
Austin
Barton Creek Greenbelt has the app GreenBeltNow which gives up-to-date info about the water level and flow speeds along different parts of the river. Click here to learn about volunteer and donation options.
Houston
Bayou Greenways (Interactive) shows path closures and other important information for travel planning.
Spring Creek Greenway "The Spring Creek Greenway is the longest, contiguous, urban forested corridor in the country."
Oceana
Oceana
Australia
Australia
Melbourne's Choice: Green Belt or Urban Sprawl Article about protecting current greenbelts from land developers.
Guides
Guides
The Art of Building Crushed Stone Trails "Crushed stone trails provide a user-friendly, all-season surface for all types and ages of visitors, including strollers, wheelchairs, and road bikes."
Resources
Resources
Trees
Trees
Click the Trees button to find programs and grants near you that can supply free or affordable trees.
Click the Tree Planting & Care button to learn where to plant, how to plant, and what to do after planting to help ensure your project area flourishes.
Click the Riparian Areas button to learn why these spaces need to stay green, or be re-wilded. They make excellent greenways, and turning these threatened spaces into greenways can be a great way to protect them long into the future.
Europe
Europe
The Green Belt Workshop (PDF) "Opportunities for Conservation without Frontiers in Northern Europe " includes maps of some parks in the program.
The "Landscape-Ring" between Italy, Slovenia, and Austria (in the Alps-Adriatic Macro-Region)
Organizations
Organizations
International
International
The Green Belt Movement "(GBM) is an environmental organization that empowers communities, particularly women, to conserve the environment and improve livelihoods. GBM was founded by Professor Wangari Maathai in 1977 under the auspices of the National Council of Women of Kenya (NCWK) to respond to the needs of rural Kenyan women who reported that their streams were drying up, their food supply was less secure, and they had to walk further and further to get firewood for fuel and fencing. GBM encouraged the women to work together to grow seedlings and plant trees to bind the soil, store rainwater, provide food and firewood, and receive a small monetary token for their work." "... headquarters are located in Nairobi, Kenya, with two satellite offices: one covering North America and based in Washington, DC.; the other covering Europe, and based in London, England."
Europe
Europe
Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Endangered Landscapes & Seascapes Programme-funded Restoration Landscapes Projects: Iron Curtain to Greenbelt "The formerly closed border between Bulgaria and neighbouring Greece and Turkey, from the Rhodope mountains in the West to the Black Sea in the East, is one of Europe’s biodiversity hotspots, hosting 81 IUCN Red List species. It is the stronghold of the national breeding population of eastern imperial eagle and is frequented by vultures, wolves and jackals. The area has been degraded by forest conversion, ploughing, and climate change causing an escalating number and increased intensity of fires. The project will replace coniferous plantations with natural riverine and deciduous forests, and restore water sources and grasslands to create a thriving ecological network that supports species recovery."
UK
UK
Earthwatch Europe: Tiny Forest "brings the benefits of woodland right into the heart of our cities and urban spaces: connecting people with nature, helping to mitigate the impacts of climate change, as well as providing nature-rich habitat to support urban wildlife."
North America
North America
USA
USA
The East Coast Greenway "connects 15 states and 450 cities and towns for 3,000 miles from Maine to Florida. We are fostering a safe walking and biking route through the country’s most populated corridor."
Texas
North East Texas Trail Coalition (NETT) "Texas is taking another step forward in providing safe, long-distance travel options for bicyclists and pedestrians after TxDOT received $25 million in federal funds to expand two trail corridors in northeast Texas and El Paso. Both trails are components of the state’s envisioned Bicycle Tourism Trails network."
Grants & Funding
Grants & Funding
North America
North America
USA
USA
Missouri
Prairie Garden Grants Program "Gardening and other conservation groups, parks, schools, and other entities in Missouri and immediately surrounding states are invited to submit proposals to MPF’s Prairie Garden Grants Program. In 2024, MPF would like to award several grants to help fund the establishment or improvement of prairie gardens or plantings. Grants will not exceed $800 each. Those with smaller projects are encouraged to apply as well. Matching funds are not required, but proposals with secured matching funds may be evaluated higher than others."
South Carolina
PalmettoPride Tree Grants "Litter control organizations, beautification groups, government organizations, neighborhood associations and nonprofit organizations in South Carolina are eligible to apply for these trees."
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